BurgerTime Deluxe
Company: Namco
Price: $19.99
https://www.namcogames.com/pc_games/burgertime_deluxe

Having spent many a quarter on the arcade classic BurgerTime back in the 1980′s, and later playing the console version, I can honestly say that it is one of my all-time favorite video games. So imagine my surprise when I saw the announcement online that BurgerTime Deluxe had been released for the Macintosh!

The basic concept and play mechanics of the original game are still here: run around the game board, running over the various parts of the hamburger to drop them down to the next level, eventually making the complete burger on the plate. Make all the burgers, move on to the next level.

Trying to prevent you from doing so is a variety of bad guys, from Pickles, Carrots, Onions, Eggs, and other food-stuff. All they have to do is touch you to kill you. For defense, you are armed with pepper which you can throw at the baddies to temporarily paralyze them and make it safe to pass by unharmed.

The original arcade version had, I believe, six or seven different levels. The new version has over sixty. This makes replay value very high, but unfortunately, you cannot simply skip to any level you want to play.

There is both a Story Mode and a Quick Play option. In Story Mode, there is a weak story-line that, honestly, I simply skipped past. It takes you from one level to the next, and the only real difference between Story and Quick is a basic tutorial at the beginning of the Story Mode, and a slower ratcheting up of bad guys. Quick Play assumes you already know how to play, and the difficulty kicks in right on the second level.

For $20, BurgerTime Deluxe is not for everyone. (And it would make a much better and popular iPhone App.) As David Cohen asked via Twitter "Is BurgerTime worth $20? It’s a 27-year-old game – don’t remember it being that great…" And he’s correct. This is not worth $20 for most people, but for someone like me who still holds the original BurgerTime as one of my all-time favorite games, it’s a cheap price for hours of nostalgia.

Pros: Fun and easy play, loads of levels, and great replay value.
Cons: Mouse control is horrible, and keyboard control causes cramps. No joystick option. No direct level selection. No classic mode to let you play the original version.

Tested under both Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6 (Snow Leopard) with no problems.

MyMac.com rating: 3 out of 5

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EOS Wireless iPod Speakers
Company: EOS Wireless
Price: $249.99 Base + $129.99 Additional Speakers
www.EOSwireless.com

I was looking forward to checking out the EOS Wireless iPod Speaker system. With all my music on my iPod, I wanted a complete solution for playing music in multiple rooms without having multiple iPod docking speakers. Does the EOS fit the bill? Read on!

First, the EOS cost $249.99, but that price is for the base station and one satellite speaker . The base station is an all-in-one iPod dock and speaker system that produces decent sound. I say decent when I compare it with the JBL SoundStage 400P that I recently reviewed with Mark Rudd on our weekly MyMac.com Podcast (#242 here http://www.mymac.com/showarticle.php?id=3674) The JBL SoundStage 400P sell at the same price-point, $249, but sound much better. In fact, if you don’t need a multi-room iPod speaker system, I would recommend the JBL speakers over the EOS 100% of the time. The difference in sound quality is apparent even to non-Audiophiles.

Still, many people have a need to wirelessly send their iPod music around the house, and while there are a few other solutions for doing so, none come within the price-range of the EOS.

The base station controls all the music, and you can buy additional wireless speakers for $129.99. They run on AC power only, and use a pretty innovative power plug that either connects directly to the speaker, or can be pulled out and used with the built-in power cord. While this system works well, it is unfortunate that the remote speakers don’t have an optional battery solution, so that you can take a speaker out into the yard for wireless music without dragging an extension cable along with you. I understand that combining wireless capabilities and playing music would be taxing on a battery, the fact that I don’t have that option is limiting.

The EOS can also work with the iPhone, although it is not officially supported.

You can connect up to four remote speakers to the EOS base station. Setup is a breeze, and in fact this was the easiest setup for any wireless product I have ever used, save for my iPhone. It really is simple, which is a big factor if you are thinking of giving these away as a gift to a non-tech person.

Another really great feature of the EOS is its AUX input. Yes, I know almost all iPod speaker systems have an AUX jack. But with the EOS, you can use the AUX input to route the audio from your Macintosh into the EOS, and then send that audio to any of the remote speakers. So rather than just an iPod speaker system, the EOS can work as a wireless speaker system for your Macintosh. Combine that with the Remote App on your iPod Touch or iPhone, and you have a pretty powerful wireless audio system in your home.

For me, the simplicity of the wireless setup and the innovative power cabling system is a winner. I also like the overall design of the unit as well. But the audio quality is simply lacking. EOS has taken the complicated and made it simple, but at the expense of great audio quality it seems. I would like to see them team-up with a company like JBL or BOSE to provide their networking technology with a company who does audio better. Low end bass is flat and cracks at higher volume, while the mid sounds decent but nothing spectacular.

Overall, I like the EOS Wireless iPod Speaker system, but until they up the audio quality, it won’t be a perfect solution for me.

MyMac.com rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Run Windows on your Mac without rebooting!  Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac provides the complete suite of essentials to run Windows on Mac the easy, fast and powerful way.

So how does the new iPhone 3G S stack up against the original (first generation) iPhone? Let’s have a look.

First, taking pictures. The picture on the left was taken with the original iPhone, the one on the right, the new iPhone 3G S. You can download the original, full-size .jpgs by clicking each photo.

–

Next up, launching applications. I think the video speaks for itself.

Click here for the full-size MP4 version

Last, how well does the iPhone 3G S do at shooting video? Take a look. Each is a YouTube version, but the better, MP4 version is also available below each movie.


Download the full-size MP4 file here

Download the full-size MP4 file here

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Apricorn iPod Upgrade Kit
Company: Apricorn, Inc.
Price: $269
www.apricorn.com

Ever since I started using my iPhone, my 5th generation 60GB iPod has been relegated to dust catching duty. That is really a shame. The iPod works great, holds a ton more music than my 8GB iPhone, and looks brand new. But because my iPhone is also my cell phone, it is always with me. And because it, too, is an iPod, I don’t find the need to bring the 60GB iPod with me very often. In fact, it has been down graded to the “take on a long trip” mode. Besides, it holds all my music, not just the playlists I choose to sync with my iPhone. (Usually only top rated, new albums, and podcasts.) Unfortunately, as my music collection has grown, it has now surpassed the 60GB limit of my iPod.

A few weeks ago, a company called Apricorn emailed me about a self-upgrade kit for the iPod. For $269, the kit includes a 240GB Hard Drive, a new 850mAH battery, and the plastic tools needed to crack open and update the iPod.

On first inspection, the iPod upgrade kit may not sound like a great deal to you. But when you consider that a brand-new iPod classic comes with a max HD of 120GB, you are actually getting twice the storage space, and a longer lasting battery for only $20 more. And if you are like me, you have tried very hard to keep your iPod in good condition.

I had never cracked open my iPod. To be honest, the thought of opening up my iPod scared the hell out of me. I mean, it’s in almost perfect condition, it works great, and while the battery may not last on a charge as long as it used to, it’s by no means worthless. But I decided to go ahead and take the plunge anyway. (In the name of science, or at least a review.)

When the package from Apricorn arrived, I unboxed everything, and laid the iPod out as if it were going into surgery… which it was.

Included in the box from Apricorn besides the tools, battery, and hard drive is a CD-ROM, on which is a video tutorial on how to perform the upgrade. And it is here that the value of the kit is truly realized.

Yes, there are a lot of video tutorials online for taking apart your iPod. Many of those are of dubious quality, especially those on YouTube. Here, on the included disc, is a video of much higher quality, with an easy to navigate menu to let you jump right to the part you need. There is also a troubleshooting area, in case things don’t go according to plan.

Let’s break down each item.

240GB Hard Drive
The included Hard Drive is, well, a Hard Drive. It comes with new padding (shock absorbers) that seem a little thicker than that which came with the original hard drive. Because of the increase in space, I can easily fit my entire music library on my iPod, three times over.

Battery
The included 850mAH battery has 30% more capacity than the battery that originally came with the iPod. And after years of use, as my iPod has on it, that capacity begins to decrease. Eventually, the iPod battery will no longer hold a charge, at which time most people simply go out and buy a new iPod. But the battery in this kit brings new, longer life to your current iPod. It will play for longer on a charge than it did when the iPod was new. And the new battery will push the lifespan of your iPod out for years to come.

Video Manual
As I wrote above, this is a clear winner. It takes you, step by step, through the entire process. Both the vocals and the voice-over are well done, and the intuitive menu makes jumping back to a particular session easy as can be.

Case Opening tools
Ah, the green plastic tools. This is the one area where I was disappointed in the Apricorn iPod Upgrade Kit. The tools are cheap, and the sharp edges, meant to help you crack open your iPod, both bent and broke on me while trying (carefully!) to open my iPod. I had to make a trip to my toolbox and use a pair of metal screwdrivers. Very, very small screwdrivers to be sure. But metal, and that worked like a charm.

While I did not run into many problems upgrading my iPod, I don’t recommend everybody try this unless you are both very comfortable around very tiny electronics, and you have confidence in yourself to do it. If you don’t, please let a professional update and upgrade your iPod for you. It will cost more, yes, but the security of letting someone else with much more experience than you is worth the price.

I am, overall, very pleased with the Apricorn iPod Upgrade Kit. I would recommend to them that they include better tools, but everything else is first-rate!

MyMac.com Rating: 4 out of 5

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Today was a fun day. The family decided that it would be fun to visit the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum. And fun it was. We took two of the four kids, as the older two girls (high school and junior high school age) had other plans. But our youngest two, five and one years old, had a blast. And since we were going to be in Grand Rapids, I paid a visit at a Macintosh Garage Sale hosted by Dan Knight, the publisher of LowEndMac.com.

Dan is a great guy. His love for older Mac hardware is honest and contagious. He has been publishing Low End Mac since 1997, which is longer than many of you reading this has been using a computer. Dan has been around during the dark days of being a Mac user, when the computer press (and mainstream press for that matter) was touting the demise of Apple Computer every other Thursday and twice on Sundays.

Here is what sets Low End Mac apart from any other Macintosh focused website: they have a wonderful profile section that covers every Macintosh ever sold. Each Mac profile not only gives you much needed information, such as when it first went on sale and reached its end, what hard drive it had, how much memory could be installed, and the like, but also links to outside resources featuring each machine, such as product reviews and commentary pieces. Also helpful is the upgrade path for older Macs, a valuable resource if you are trying to keep an older machine in working order.

The used Mac garage sale was not a huge success for Dan today. When I visited around the time he had planned on closing it down, he had not sold one machine. That’s not to say these older Macs do not have a value, nor that there are not people interested in owning them: I think it had more to do with little advertising and how early in the year it is to hold a garage sale here in Michigan. (It’s still cold many April days here!)

No, I did not buy an older Mac from Dan. I have enough of those already, and in fact probably need to unload a few soon as well. (Plus, you know, my wife was there and… well, my wife was there! Sigh…) I did purchase something else that I really wanted: the original Apple rainbow logo stickers! Two sets, actually. Once I wash the Honda and the Dodge mini-van, they will be put to good use. There is just something special about the rainbow Apple logo, it has so much more character than the solid color logo Apple now uses.

And it is that character that brings me back to Dan and Low End Mac. Looking at my new "old" stickers, I am reminded not of the "bad old days" of Apple or the Macintosh, but of my own memory of discovery in the still-new world of computers and online publishing. When seeing that rainbow logo on another car, it signified, to me, a kinship with another person. A shared passion, a secret brotherhood of interest that most computer users did not share. The same is true of Dan and Low End Mac. We both share a passion for the Macintosh and the community that surrounds it, as well as the both of us being longtime online publishers.

Dan, and his passion for older Macintosh hardware and software, is reflected in his online publication, and only reinforced when speaking to him in person. Dan still uses AppleWorks, and his everyday working machine is running Mac OS 9. It’s honoring the past, while still using tools that work just as well as the shinny new ones being sold in the Apple store today. Dan was a pioneer in 1997 when he started Low End Mac, and remains a pioneer to this day, if for no other reason than his continued use of older and much beloved hardware / software. It’s refreshing for me to be able to speak to someone else with a shared history, both in publishing and the Macintosh. It’s even more refreshing for me to see someone like Dan continue on, doing what he loves.

Visit LowEndMac.com, take a look around, and revisit the profile page of the first Macintosh you ever owned. I bet it brings back some memories!

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IDG World Expo Announces New Dates for Macworld 2010

Macworld Expo embarks on a new era; 2010 event scheduled February 9-13

Framingham, MA, March 30, 2009 – Macworld Expo® 2010 is scheduled to take place February 9 – 13, 2010, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, IDG World Expo announced today. Responding to feedback from the Mac community of exhibitors, attendees, media and fans of the show, IDG World Expo is ushering in a new era for the event by shifting the show dates away from their historical early January timing. The new dates will give exhibitors and attendees more breathing room between the busy holiday season and the world’s largest event focused specifically on Apple products.

“Macworld is the largest global Mac-centric event of the year, and we are focused on making 2010 the most productive, efficient and content-rich event possible for our community of exhibitors, attendees and media,” said Mary Dolaher, chief executive officer of IDG World Expo, the owner of Macworld. “For 25 years, Macworld has been the pre-eminent event focused solely on the Apple products ecosystem, and with the recent evolution of the show we have been able to fully engage the Macworld community for input on the 2010 event. As we began the planning process, attendees and exhibitors made it clear that February in San Francisco was the time and location that worked best, so we listened. We firmly believe that these new dates will better meet the needs of everyone participating in Macworld, and are pleased to have been able this respond to this request from the community. The journey toward a new era for Macworld has begun and we are more excited about this ride than ever before.”

In addition to moving the event to February, Macworld 2010 will further break from tradition by shifting the expo portion of the event to include a Saturday. The Expo now is scheduled to take place Thursday, February 11, through Saturday, February 13. This shift will provide all attendees, including full-time professionals, with more flexible times and convenient weekend access to the show floor. The Macworld conference sessions will take place Tuesday, February 9, through Saturday, February 13.

“We are definitely going to Macworld 2010,” exclaimed Andrew Taylor, founder and CEO of MacSpeech, Inc. “Macworld is a time when customers can ask us questions and request features. Macworld is a time for us to make more people aware of what’s going on with MacSpeech Dictate. At the same time, we can interact with other developers in the Macintosh community. Macworld is an extremely efficient use of time for us. It’s a great time for the community to come together, see what everybody else is doing and use that information to help everybody improve.”

Macworld 2010 will bring together retailers, Mac enthusiasts, media, exhibitors, and, unlike other events, consumers for a week of education, professional development, face-to-face networking and product viewing. Exhibitors and attendees will gather to see, share, learn and experience the best and most innovative technologies, tools and toys for the Apple products ecosystem. Macworld is the only event where exhibitors and developers have the opportunity to speak directly to an audience that is interested specifically in their product category and in an environment where they can grab maximum mindshare in an uncluttered marketplace.

“Moving Macworld Expo from the awkward post-New Year dates makes tons of sense,” said Adam Engst, publisher, TIDBits. “Travel and lodging costs will likely be lower for developers and attendees alike, and developers won’t have to push as hard during the holiday season to finalize code and prepare booths.”

About Macworld
Owned and produced by Framingham Mass.-based IDG World Expo, Macworld showcases products and services for professionals involved in media and creative content development for corporate and home applications, as well as prosumers using the Mac at home. Macworld brings together audiences in creative services, education, application development, entertainment, small office/home office and Internet-based environments. Macworld offers professionals and prosumers alike the opportunity to discover the latest developments and hottest products these markets offer. For more information or to register for the event, please visit the website at http://www.macworldexpo.com, or call (800) 645-EXPO. For exhibiting opportunities, please contact Annie Rice McKnight at (508) 424-4839 amcknight@idgworldexpo.com, or Ron Moreau at (508) 424-4804 or rmoreau@idgworldexpo.com. For sponsorship opportunities contact Ellen Moorehead at (508) 988-7830, or emoorehead@idgworldexpo.com.

About IDG World Expo
IDG World Expo (www.idgworldexpo.com) is a leading producer of tradeshows and events for professionals and consumers seeking world-class education, strategic business relationships, and access to industry-leading products and services. IDG World Expo’s portfolio of conferences and events includes Macworld®, Electronic Entertainment Expo® (E3 Expo®), Next Generation Data Center™ (NGDC™), OpenSource World™, CloudWorld™ and REVEAL Los Angeles…The Fashion & Design Event™. IDG World Expo is a business unit of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research and event company.

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A decade ago, back when the web was still easy to develop webpages on, I was the WebMaster for TheRockCafe.com. (Don’t bother going there now, it’s a parked site for some internet squatter.) It was a website for a local record store here in my home town. (It later became the domain name for a church after the record store and I parted ways, but I had nothing to do with that.) Rather than pay me in cash, which I would have preferred, we had a barter deal. As a music lover, this worked out fine, as their website did not take much time to maintain once it was built, and in exchange I would get one music CD a week.

I did it for three or four years. So my music collection, already fairly large at that point, got exponentially larger very quickly. This all leads, of course, to the point where I stopped listening to CDs and started listening to MP3 formatted music on my iPod. At that point, I used iTunes to convert all my music CDs to MP3, and never looked back.

One tiny problem: while iTunes usually knew which CD it was importing, thus naming all the tracks and albums correctly, cover art was not a part of iTunes back in the day. The iPod could not display album art (greyscale text-only screen) and there was no decent third-party solution to find and attach album artwork to the metadata of the MP3. Even when the original iPod started sporting color and the ability to display album artwork, it was no big deal. It wasn’t until Apple introduced CoverFlow on the iPhone that I decided I wanted all my music to have album artwork. And while Apple now has the ability to find album artwork in iTunes, it does not work very well, if at all.

Enter two different applications: CoverScout from Equinux, and TuneUp from TuneUp Media. They are very different applications, and while TuneUp has more features, I am only going to look at one feature: getting album artwork.

TuneUp (Free, but limited to 500 fixes until you pay. $29.95 lifetime subscription) has the benefit of working with iTunes. When you launch iTunes, TuneUp automatically launches at the same time. This is nice, except I could not find any way to turn it off. Oh, sure, I could quit TuneUp, but there is no way to tell it not to launch the next time iTunes starts up. Maybe I don’t want to find missing artwork for the next few days. TuneUp doesn’t care, it happily launches each and every time. In fact, the only way to actually keep it from launching at iTunes start-up was to move the application to the trash, empty trash, and be happy.

So, does TuneUp work? After a fashion. It does a pretty decent job of renaming your MP3′s for you if they are not already listed correctly. In fact, at times, it was downright uncanny how many songs it fixed in the ID department, correctly filling in both album name, composer, and song title. How does it know? Well, it does, at least for about half the tracks I threw at it.

But this is about album art, and here TuneUp did a pretty decent job. Maybe 70%. Still and all, that is not bad, cleaning up 70% of the album art of the MP3s I gave it to chew on.

CoverScout ($39.99), on the other hand, does one thing and one thing only: finds the missing album art. It does not work within, or with, iTunes. Rather, you point it at your MP3 library, and it will diligently scour the internet looking for your album art.

I have to say, the power of CoverScout is astounding. Not only does it guess correctly 90% of the time, it presents you with multiple options for those tracks and albums if it does not know. You can set up the program to automatically assign the best guess for you, or allow it to let you manually select the correct choice per album. I did the later, until I got bored with the drudgery of the task and just let CoverScout pick what it thought was the best choice. Even then, it got it right way more often than not.

CoverScout will also allow you to custom fit your covers, meaning if the only artwork it finds is a 3D or odd-shaped picture, you can crop out what you don’t want. More, you can actually use your iSight camera (if your Mac has one) to take a picture of your actual CD cover and apply that to your MP3s. If there is a problem with the artwork, you can change the levels of color or even straighten and rotate the art for a better fit.

As a whole, I like both programs. TuneUp offers way more features than simply finding your missing artwork, and I really like the product. CoverScout is the best solution for missing album artwork, but it is a little pricey and only really does the one thing.

I recommend both products, but ask that you give TuneUp a try before spending the money on CoverScout. For the sheer amount of missing artwork in my iTunes library, CoverScout is a bargain. But very few products beat free.

Winner: CoverScout
Loser: Really, neither.

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Adobe Illustrator CS4 (version 14)
Company: Adobe System, Inc.
Price: $599.00
Upgrade from $199.00
www.adobe.com

Ah, vector graphics. If I am not working with actual photographs, chances are I’m doing artwork in Adobe Illustrator. I enjoy working with the program for most of my art needs. While I’m not a graphic artist, I can create some good production-type work more easily in Illustrator than I can in Photoshop.

There are some major and minor changes in this version of Illustrator, some of which I like, some I don’t, and some which seemed, at first, to break my workflow in such a way that I was pulling my hair out. It took some people at Adobe to show me the work-around, and while I appreciate it, I still find it annoying that it happened in the first place. But more on that later.

Interface Changes
Ah, tabbed windows! I actually thought I would enjoy working with tabbed windows in Illustrator, but I don’t. (I hate it even more in Photoshop) After a few days, I turned the feature off via the preference menu. Problem is, it does not stay off. I have, time after time, been dragging a window around when, snap, it pops into the tabbed interface with another open document. That’s annoying, and something I hope Adobe will address in an update soon. I also know it’s not a problem only I have had, at least according to some Adobe Illustrator boards I frequent.

For those who don’t know what a tabbed interface means, here is an example. In the first picture, you will see one window / document open above another. (non-tabbed.)

In the second, the same two graphics, but tabbed. It very much reminds me of Mac OS 9 days with tabbed windows. I like the feature in an operating system window, but not in Illustrator. (Or Photoshop, where the same tabbed interface carries over.)

For those familiar with Illustrator, you will find many changes: some good, some bad. The ability to convert a shape (square) into crop marks has been moved to the Filters menu, which is where it should have been all along. Also, Pathfinder is now grayed out unless you actually hold down the modifier key, rather than the other way around.

Remember how oddly clipping masks worked is CS3? You could still select invisible artwork from a clipping mask, which is not usually what you would want to do. Now, not only are they hidden, but your selection tool will not be able to select that art. A nice feature. Actually, less a feature than a correcting of a long-standing gripe of mine.

Artboards – The Good and Bad
The major interface change is the new Artboard (multiple pages) workflow in Illustrator. With multiple artboards, each artboard is assigned a number, which basically uses the same type of numbering system as slices in Adobe Photoshop. This was, at least for me, confusing. Because most of my workflow revolves around web graphics, I often use slices in Photoshop, so seeing a very similar numbering / layout in Illustrator kept me guessing. I can be slow at times.

It may be confusing for some people when using Artboards in Illustrator for the first time. It is hard to wrap your head around. While the multi-page metaphor works, Illustrator does not simply lay out pages for you as Apple’s Pages or Adobe’s own In-Design does. Rather, you draw squares, creating different artboards on your workspace. Think of it more as a light-table, and you arrange different pages on the table.

Opening legacy Illustrator files can be a major problem with the new CS4 version. And it is here that I have had the most frustrating time incorporating Illustrator CS4 into my daily workflow. Inconsistencies abound, from simple relinking errors (a major problem when Illustrator went from versions 8 to 9) to broken placed PSD files with transparencies.

The Adobe Illustrator team was kind enough to help me work my way through the problems I encountered, but the fact remains that an average user won’t have that same level of help available to them. Worse yet, large production houses doing packaging work, and opening legacy Illustrator files, will have their entire workflow broken. Much time will be needed to either convert older files to take advantage of the new Artboards feature, or fighting with CS4 to work the same way CS3 (and CS2, CS, 10, 9, 8, etc…) did. There should be a very simple "always open legacy files in CS3 layout" preference. But, alas, there is none. Designers and production artists will find creating new Illustrator files, using the new Artboards layouts, helpful and make them become more productive if for no other reason than to have commonly needed graphics in every file (‘ala a logo). But the daunting and time consuming task of converting older files, correcting production files at every step, will quickly eclipse any real time saving Artboards will provide.

Of particular note, placed transparent PSD files with crop marks work very differently in CS4 than in CS3. For MyMac.com, I have a number of templates that I use to create our front page graphics. (with the black boxes that say "review" or "podcast") Using these are a huge part of my online workflow. While I could do the same thing is Adobe Photoshop, I enjoy working in Illustrator more. But opening these files with the default settings makes them unusable, as Illustrator creates different Artboards for the artwork and the cropped areas. I can see no rhyme or reason for this. And while Adobe did send me the workaround, why is that even necessary?

Illustrator CS3 file, with crop marks showing

Same file as above, opened in CS4.

Separations
One of the best new features, for those using Adobe Illustrator in a production setting, is the new Separations Preview. This will be a huge time-saver in high volume production houses and print shops. It is one of the last big steps in going direct from Illustrator to plate / print.

Blob Brush
This is the other new "hot" feature of Illustrator CS4, and the one I have spend next to no time using up to this point. Eventually I will write a follow-up and talk about the Blob Brush. CreativePro.com goes into great depth on this new feature. I can’t wait to find the opportunity to use it myself.

Plug-ins
I don’t use a huge number of plug-ins, and the ones I do, worked fine. But like every version of any program that uses a plug-in architecture, there will be problems as those third-party applications need to be updated. If you have plug-ins that you must use, check out its compatibility before upgrading.

You may think that I don’t like the new Illustrator CS4, what with all my gripes. I do like the program, and I think the newest version is the most significant update in a decade. Legacy files and some interface tweaks need to be fixed, sure, but nothing actually precludes me from using, and enjoying, the application. Users have been asking for multipage support in Illustrator since version 2, and we now have it. Sort of.

Speed-wise, I actually felt that CS4 runs a little faster than CS3 did on the same machine, so production houses take note.

Of more importance is the fact that Illustrator has no competition on the Mac platform, and next to none on the PC. (Sure, Window users have the less expensive CorelDRAW, but have you ever tried to use it? It’s a kludge.) Usually in these situations, where a piece of software is as essential for some entire industries, and there are no alternatives available, companies can become complacent. Adobe has not done that with Illustrator over the last three versions. A lot of designers were upset when Adobe purchased Macromedia and turned around and ended Freehand (a great application in its own right) but so far, Adobe has done itself proud with its vector-based program.

MyMac.com rating: 4 out of 5

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"Did you hear the news today?"

I have been emailed, IM’d, and Twittered that question incessantly over the past ten hours as of this writing. The cause for all the email is, of course, the news that Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, Inc…, is stepping down as CEO for half the year to focus on his health. In his absence, Tim Cook, Apple’s Chief Operating officer, will helm Apple.

"Do you think Steve is really dying"

I don’t know, and I hope not. I hope not for his sake, and his family. Not because of his connection to Apple, Disney, or any other business venture. I don’t want Steve Jobs to die for the same reason I don’t want you to die.

"Can Apple survive?"

Of course, and very well, thank you. One of the things Steve Jobs has done as CEO was to place some of the most skilled people in key areas within Apple, Inc. Tim Cook is one of those people, hand-picked by Steve Jobs himself to oversee all Apple, Inc. operations. And while I don’t personally know either Mr. Jobs or Mr. Cook, I know as much about them as you do. And I would ask you this: do you trust Steve Jobs to do what’s right for Apple? If the answer is yes (as it should be, obviously) then you should feel every bit of confidence in an Apple, Inc. under Tim Cook as you do with it under Steve Jobs.

"Do you think this is why he did not do the Macworld Expo keynote?"

Sure, of course. I think there are many reasons, but his health was the primary reason. That and the fact that Apple had no show-stopping products they were ready to showcase at the event. The Macworld Expo comes at a horrible time of the year for most vendors: right after the holiday shopping season is over, most people have already spent all their disposable income for a few months, it’s too early for Back To School shopping, and it falls well outside the average companies product cycle. I believe the stories and first-hand accounts I heard at the show why Apple wanted out of the yearly grind of the Macworld Expo.

"Do you think Apple’s stock will tank?"

I have no idea. I don’t play the stock market, and even if I did, I would not buy Apple, Inc. stock as I run a website that covers and comments on them. It would be a conflict of interest, in my opinion. My opinion is worthless about the stock market.

"Do you think Steve Jobs will really come back this summer?"

I have no reason to doubt it. He said he would be back, and Steve Jobs is many things, but a liar is not one of them. That being said, nothing is written in stone, and his health problems could take a turn for the worse and force him to miss his return date. It could cause him to retire permanently. He could also heal and be more healthy than he has been in years. I have no way of knowing. But one thing I am very confident of is the future of Apple, the Macintosh, and the iPhone. Apple has a really great team in place at the highest levels, and they will continue to produce and deliver stunning and award winning products well into the future.

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This weeks Apple event, and the announcements of new MacBooks, MacBook Pro’s, and a new Cinema display were great. They look to be solid products that will carry on the strong laptop sales Apple has enjoyed over the last five years. What has me more excited than this weeks announcements, however, is a statement Piras made in my Thoughts on the new Apple MacBooks posts: "Am already anxiously awaiting Macworld (expo)!"

Ah, Macworld Expo! Less than three months away. The main event of each year for Apple. The one major event that, almost without fail, Apple either announces or releases a new product. Let’s look back at some of the products first seen at Macworld Expo in this decade.

2000 – PowerMac G4 Cube. While not a big seller, and was eventually considered a failure, the Cube still remains an attractive and unique product. Almost nine years later, and a part of me still wants one. Not with a G4 PowerPC processor, though, but a new one with a fast Intel chip! Also, Apple first showed off Mac OS X with its Aqua interface. Did that OS ever catch on?

2001 – PowerBook G4. Ah, the first PowerBook with a widescreen monitor. The same basic stylings are still being felt in the models released just this week!

2002 – iMac G4. Some say this was the most unattractive iMac of them all. The styling had more to do, some say, with the Pixar lamp logo than anything else. In fact, I really liked the style and ability to move the "floating" monitor to desired level. It took the then aging iMac line up a noticeable notch in performance. And while the design would only last two years, I believe it is still a better looking computer six years later than almost anything the PC market has on the store shelves.

2003 – Safari. At the time, many wondered why Apple would bother creating its own web browser. Wasn’t the browser wars over, and Microsoft won? We see now just how far reaching this product has become. You can use it on a Mac or PC, and it has helped make the iPhone the success that it is. Also announced were the G4 12 and 17-inch PowerBooks.

2004 – iPod Mini. Still a hot commodity on eBay, the iPod Mini (later renamed the iPod Nano, even though they "cancelled" the iPod Mini and launched the iPod Nano. But come on, the Mini just morphed into the Nano is all) was a furthering of the dominance of the iPod line. Also showcased at the event was the iMac G5, introduced a few months before in Paris. And, of course, Mac OS X 10.4, aka Tiger.

2005 – The Mac Mini. Some claim that this is another failed product. A dud, if you will. Well, it is now almost four years later, and while the Mac Mini of today sports an Intel chip rather than a G4, the basic shape and price-point remains about the same. It is still a good choice as an entry level Mac for PC switchers who want to use their current mouse and monitor. How much longer will the Mac Mini stick around? It is, by far, the oldest of all Macs in terms of style and positioning, and it gets almost no play at any major Mac event. Perhaps 2009 will be the last of the Mac Mini.

2006 – iMac with the Core Duo Intel chips are not only announced, but are shipping! While the all-white look remained the same from the G5 model, the first Intel iMac was a huge seller for Apple. In fact, almost two years later, these are still considered very good and worthy machines.

2007 – iPhone makes its first appearance. You really don’t need me to tell you how that has gone, do you?

2008 – MacBook Air. While I don’t really want one myself, the Air seems to be on a lot of people’s wish-list. Or at least it did until the new MacBook Pro’s were shown this week!

Which brings us to Macworld Expo 2009.

Every Macworld Expo this decade had a hardware product announcement. Every one. I think that this alone proves that Apple will release a new hardware product in January. So what could it be?

Laptops are out. We just got those.
iMac? Nahh. Apple just released new iMacs not long ago, and that design is in keeping with the new MacBook line.
MacPro. Could be, although I highly doubt it. Apple usually saves the heavy hardware announcements for WWDC. Just not "sexy" enough for a Macworld Expo keynote.
iPod. No, Apple just released new iPods.
iPhone. Not a chance in hell.
MacMini. Ah-ha! This could be it! But, really, would a Macworld Expo audience really get overly excited by a new MacMini, even one radically redesigned with a lower price point? Sure, a $299 MacMini would be a HUGE seller, but I just don’t see it happening.
Monitors. Nope, new ones this week!
AppleTV. No, that took part of the spotlight at the ’08 Macworld Expo, along with the MacBook Air and the Time Capsule Airport.

So what’s left?
An Apple TV that is more than a box, but an actual television?
A video game system?
A new PDA-like devise? (No, come on! The Apple PDA is the iPhone people!)

I really have no idea right now, but I would love to hear your speculation!

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Well, nothing really earth shattering with todays announcements of the new Apple MacBooks and MacBook Pro’s. That being said, let’s take a closer look, ask some questions, and see what we can come up with.

MacBook
I think the biggest news here is that you can now get a new MacBook for only $999. This machine is really yesterdays laptop, price-dropped to reflect the consumers want of the new redesigned MacBook. It’s an easy way for Apple to get new customers and users at a price-point that, in today’s economy, will appeal to a lot of buyers.

The New MacBooks, however, are definitely a generational leap in terms of both performance and style. This is the first major redesign for the Macbook (and Macbook Pro) line in many years. On a recent MyMac Podcast, we talked about how the then current MacBooks really were not much different, at least cosmetically, than a G3 / G4 iBook. More powerful, sure, but they looked too similar.

The new aluminum case with the black glass bevel screen are simply gorgeous. They look different in so many ways that, in one fell swoop, made the older Macbooks look clunky and dated.

The look of both new laptops, MacBook and MacBook Pro, look somewhat similar to the first generation PowerBook G4′s, with the silver case and black keyboards. (although the original G4′s were Titanium) The screen design itself looks like it was taken directly from the black and aluminum iMacs. This is not a bad thing!

Still and all, design will only get you so far. (Hello, Sony laptops!) And with Apple, it usually goes without saying that a new design will coincide with a new processor and other upgrades internally.

First, the bad news. The new MacBooks do not have a Firewire ports at all. Why would you need a Firewire port, you ask? Well, besides the ability to connect an external Firewire hard drive (you can still use a USB hard drive) you cannot boot these machines into target disk mode. This may not be a deal breaker for you (and it won’t be for the vast majority of potential buyers) but it is a huge drawback. Apple pioneered this technology, and most agree that Firewire is superior to USB 2.0.

Other posts include a mini display port for connecting to an external monitor, audio in and out jacks, two USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet port, and of course the MagSafe power port. All good.

Inside, the new MacBooks run at either 2.0 or 2.4 GHz via the Core 2 Duo. Each sports standard 2GB of RAM, upgradable to only 4GB, which has to be an Apple design decision. There is no reason these laptops could not support more RAM, but I think Apple wants buyers to move up to a MacBook Pro for more RAM. Oh, wait, sorry. The MacBook Pro also only supports up to 4GB of RAM. Very odd, as the processor and bus speed clearly can handle more RAM.

All MacBooks still sport the 13" screen, but driving all the graphical horsepower now is the new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card with 256MB of RAM. This is more than ample to run almost any game made for the Mac. In fact, the new Need For Speed was shown running on a MacBook during the event.

Unlike some speculators, the MacBook still sport a DVD player / burner. (‘ala SuperDrive.)

The hard drive is 160GB to 320GB, as well as an optional 128GB of solid-state drive like in the MacBook Air.

These are fantastic machines, no doubt.

MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro’s that were released today have the same 15.4" display, and takes the same basic stylings as the new MacBook. The display is being driven by the new NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor. Depending on which MacBook Pro you select, either 2.53GHz or 2.8GHz, the GeForce has either 256MB or 512MB of RAM.

Dual Display and video mirroring is supported, and the top of the line MacBook Pro can also power the 30" Apple display.

Strangely, the MacBook Pro does have a Firewire 800 port, but no Firewire 400. The Firewire 400 is much more common than the 800 variety.

There is very little to dislike about either the new MacBook or MacBook Pro’s. (The MacBook Air was also updated internally, but not externally, joining the least expensive MacBook in retaining the last generation’s look. Very odd.)

Some questions:
Where is the 17" MacBook Pro?
Is Apple abandoning the Firewire 400 port?

Let’s hear your opinions and observations below!

all images ® Apple, Inc.

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Laplogic G800 Aerogel Extreme
Company: LapLogic.com
Price: $69.95
http://laplogic.com

My Macbook Pro gets hot. Too hot to sit in my lap with extended usage. One of the ways to combat this is to use smcFanControl to adjust the speed of the internal fans to help cool the laptop. But even then, I only trust setting the fans so high before I start worrying about damaging the computer. And that’s where the LapLogic G800 with Aerogel comes in.

Impressions and Observations
Very lightweight. As the G800 is, I would expect it to feel heavier.

Sturdy. The G800 feels very durable. Very well made with quality materials.

Not slippery! This may sound obvious, but many laptop stand makers tend to forget that these computers sitting on a plastic lap stand can become slippery. Many of them come with plastic or rubber feet that stick to the plastic stand to prevent just that, but those pieces tend to fall off after extended use. With the G88, the entire devise is wrapped in a no-slip covering that is both soft to the touch, and very sticky to the computer. Nice!

crappy looking PC not included

Cool in my lap! Really the most important reason I wanted to test out the G800. My Macbook Pro gets too hot on the bottom. Using the G800, that is not a problem. I cannot feel the heat at all.

On the bottom of the G800 there is a sleeve for CDs or DVDs. Just a little pocket. This could come in handy, although I have not used it.

All in all, I really like the G800, and I believe you will, too. Yes, it is a little expensive at $69.95, but I don’t find that price excessive for such a high quality product.

Also of note, I also tested the $79.95 W700, which is simply a wider version of the G800, but with a mouse pad. It, too, works extremely well, and the extra weight of the Scotch-Guard coated nylon mouse made is manageable for those who prefer to use a mouse with their laptop.

MyMac.com rating: 4 out of 5 for both.

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Remembering Mac writer Rodney O. Lain